Former President of Ireland Mary McAleese A Vatican spokesman has insisted that a Rome-based conference which is due to be addressed by former President Mary McAleese is not an official Holy See event.
It comes amidst media reports that Mrs McAleese has been barred from speaking at the Vatican by Irishman Cardinal Kevin Farrell over her opposition to the Church’s teaching on same-sex marriage.
In previous years, the ‘Voices of Faith’ conference has been given permission to be held at Vatican properties. However, according to a report in the Irish Independent newspaper, Cardinal Farrell did not approve of Mrs McAleese’s inclusion on a list of proposed speakers. This promoted the organisers to move the March 8 event to another venue in the Eternal City. However, a Vatican spokesman confirmed that the Rome event was “not a Vatican conference” and therefore invitations and venues were a matter for the organisers rather than the Holy See.
Mrs McAleese has said she is unwilling to comment on the issue since she has written to Pope Francis and is awaiting a response. The former President has courted controversy in the past when she expressed the view that the Argentine Pontiff is a “lovely person” but carries a “residual element of misogyny” that stops him giving women a more central role in the Church.
Cardinal Farrell, who is originally from Drimnagh but spent most of his priestly ministry in the United States, is the Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.